Surround Sound

By Aoife Carnevale

AI’s stripping of art’s originality is not a new comment – in fact it’s becoming more and more prominent as AI technology improves. As an aspiring writer, (and obsessive consumer of books, television, music), it’s a process I have vehemently opposed. Although, possessing little to no knowledge on technology, I figured I could do my best to absorb the other side of the argument. A common thread I see among the dreaded discourse of AI in art is that using it for a solely functional purpose is acceptable, meaning that if you’re not plagiarising your essays or using it to write the next great American novel, then what’s the harm in using it for organisation and practicality? 

Alas, despite my great attempts to keep an open mind, I remain skeptical. 

So let’s talk about music. More specifically, Spotify, and its infusion of AI in the formatting of the app. If you, like myself, are a slave to the monthly subscription fee of Spotify Premium, you might have tested out its “AI DJ”. Your own personalised DJ that can select, queue and skip songs based on what you’re feeling in the moment, and despite its rather creepy unhuman voice (that pronounces my name wrong every time, might I add), it seemed relatively harmless as far as AI goes. Even relatively helpful, if you’re a rather indecisive listener with a shorter attention span. 

However, a big part of why Spotify is one of the most prominent music streaming services is its prioritisation of personalisation. Cleverly playing on nostalgia and fan favourites, Spotify Wrapped has us hooked every year. It’s always so much fun to be surprised by your own listening habits, new trends, and comparing with your friends through an exponential amount of instagram stories that you will have to flick through, before adding your own of course. I love it, it feels like a creative way that Spotify stays in touch with your users, as well as being very clever marketing. Which is why I was disappointed by the other, slightly less creative uses of AI within the app. I noticed a new button at the bottom right hand corner of my device:

Create +

And I was tempted. I was then presented with a range of options from AI DJ to using AI to make an entire playlist by feeding it prompts. Alas it fails to pick up on the feel of your desired music and its algorithm seemingly relies on finding songs that have the same word as your prompt within their title. If you’re a regular reader here at Surround Sound, you’ll be no stranger to our stance on AI generated content, thanks to the carefully crafted articles by our clever contributors on AI in the world of art. This instance in particular however brought to mind a phrase that I, like many others have become familiar with (and worried very deeply that I may possess it), “Brain Rot”. An unfortunately prevalent diagnosis in today’s world and was unsurprisingly the winner of Oxford University Press‘ “Word of the Year” in 2024. Referring to the lack of focus and ability due to a chronic addiction to online content, and, in my opinion, a contributing factor in Spotify’s generated playlists. It not only underestimates the intelligence of its users, but simply takes all the fun out of it, stripping the creative process from its consumers. For some reason I was saddened by this. Am I really incapable of selecting music for myself and organising it in a playlist? Does anyone actually need this? Are we getting to the point of no return with our focus and ability online that we need an app to make all decisions on our behalf? 

It’s not a phenomenon exclusive to this company of course, I love Spotify because of the creative freedom it provides. Which is why I’ve paid the monthly subscription fee to Spotify Premium over the years, despite my countless attempts to save money. The best part is being to listen to what you want, when you want it and dress it up with a little piece of your own efforts, organising the songs, picking a fun title, and my favourite part of the process, adding a thumbnail image to match the gallery of playlists you’ve cultivated in your library. 

Which is why I was incredibly dejected when I read a generated playlist called, “happy folk pumpkin spice Monday afternoon” – I think I felt my own brain rotting as I read it. Why churn out these nonsensical generated playlists and suggest them to users who are more than capable of making better, with a couple minutes of effort? And if these human made playlists are displayed on public accounts, why not suggest those to other users as opposed to generating playlists that absolutely no one asked for? I have seen some incredible playlists made by individual Spotify users, no matter the mood or situation, someone has created something that perfectly matches what you’re looking for, in an authentic way that AI can’t recreate with prompts